MAHMOOD AHMAD BHATTI, J.--Muhammad Nawaz, the petitioner has filed this petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, seeking to quash FIR No,376/14 dated 1-10-2014 registered under section 489-F, P.P.C. At Police Station Civil Lines, District Dera Ghazi Khan.
2. As it is, an Additional Sessions Judge/Ex-officio Justice of Peace, Dera Ghazi Khan ordered the registration of case against the petitioner vide order dated 26-9-2014. The petitioner assailed the A aforesaid order by instituting Writ Petition No,13401/14. It came up for hearing on 1-10-2014, and the operation of the impugned order dated 26-9-2014 was suspended.
3. In utter disregard of the order dated 1-10-2014 passed by this Court, FIR No,376/14 was registered at Police Station Civil Lines, Dera Ghazi Khan. The police purportedly complied with the order dated 26-9-2014 passed by learned Ex-Officio Justice of Peace. Little did it realize that the operation thereof had already been put on hold. It is well-established law that a restraining order passed by a Court would go into effect the very moment it is passed, regardless of the fact whether the same was conveyed to the quarters concerned or not. In this respect, suffice it to refer to the authoritative judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan reported as "Din Mohammad and 2 others v Abdul Rehman Khan" (1992 SCMR 127). For the ease of reference, the relevant portions therefrom are reproduced as under: "A stay order will "operate from the time that such order is made and not from the time it is communicated to the executing Court". Besides the reasons in the precedent cases it has also to be kept in view that just as law operates the moment it is enacted and ignorance of it is no defence, so an order made by a superior court operates when it is made and non-knowledge or ignorance will not permit the lower court to render the order of the superior Court ineffective or nullity. It is the other way round. No doubt, non- knowledge will not entail liability for any action taken but action will not be clothed with legality when legal authority to proceed had been stopped or stayed.
The controversy stands settled as far as Courts in Pakistan are concerned. It was laid down in a Full Bench judgment reported as "Karam All & others decree holders v. Raja and others judgment- debtors" (PLD 1949 Lah.100) that "both on principle and authority as well as on a plain construction of Order XLI, R.5, the answer to the question referred is that a stay order under Order XLI, R.5 operates from the time that such order is made and not from the time it is communicated to the executing Court". In the case of "Persumal and others v. Government of Pakistan and others" (PLD 1960 (W. P.) Kar. 690) a Full Bench referred with approval the case of "Syed Nazir Ahmad v. Syed Muhammad Saeed and another" (PLD 1955 Lah. 34) wherein it was laid down that "there can be no doubt that any proceedings taken by the learned Senior Civil Judge after the High Court order were entirely without jurisdiction". The learned Full Bench held that "the legal provision does not admit of any doubt that an order passed by an inferior Court during the subsistence of a stay order made by a superior court is an absolute nullity". The Full Bench judgment of the Lahore High Court referred to above namely "Karam Ali v. Raja (PLD 1949 Lah. 100) was sought to be reconsidered by this Court in "Abdul Rashid Khan and 2 others v. Mst. Nasim Akhtar" (1974 SCMR 509) but this Court declined to do so and observed that in our opinion the view expressed by the Lahore Court is in accordance with law. It is not necessary to re-examine the question already decided by the Lahore High Court". In this view of the matter, there is no escape from the conclusion that after the order of this Court staying further proceedings, the trial Court could not continue the trial nor pass the resultant decree".
4. The plea of the SHO Police Station Civil Lines, District Dera Ghazi Khan that the injunctive order dated 1-10-2014 passed in Writ Petition No,13401/14 was not communicated to him at the time of registering FIR No,376/14 at 1-20 p.m.(noon) is of no avail in the face of the law laid down by the apex Court. I am constrained to observe that C I had passed the order on 1-10-2014 at 8-30 a.m., and keeping in view the distance between the Court and the police station, I am not willing to accept the argument that the order was not duly conveyed to SHO Police Station Civil Lines, District Dera Ghazi Khan. Furthermore, the message is conveyed to the quarters concerned within no time on cell phone. Probably, he was under the impression that he would steal a march over the order of this Court. He was and is mistaken in his view. His impression needs to be dispelled for good.
5. For what has been stated above, FIR No,376/14 dated 1-10-2014 having been registered in contravention of the lawful order passed by this Court cannot be allowed to stand. Its registration being an illustration of the abuse of process of law, the same needs to be quashed. Order accordingly.